1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flipped ball game apparatus having a playfield into which balls are flipped, to play a game.
2. Description of the Background Art
A game machine called a pinball game machine has conventionally been proposed. This pinball game machine has a playfield in which balls roll down, and a player plays a game by using the rolling balls. When the balls rolling down in the playfield collide with certain obstacles, the balls are flipped and captured at indefinite probabilities while tracing their irregularly changing trajectories, and consequently a predetermined reward is provided to the player.
A conventional pinball game of particular interest to the present invention is a Japanese pinball game of the type called "pachinko" which have been popular in Japan.
Although the present invention is not limited to such a "pachinko" game machine, it is most widely applicable to the "pachinko" game machine.
A large number of such "pachinko" game machines are installed in a game house, and the player goes to the game house and plays a game by using at least one of the "pachinko" game machines. In the game house, the player first buys a plurality of small balls and inserts them into the "pachinko" game machine for playing a game. The inserted balls are flipped one by one into a playfield in the machine by the player's manual operation. A number of protruding obstructive pins are standing in the playfield. The flipped balls fall down tracing their irregularly changing trajectories while colliding with the obstructive pins. In the playfield are further provided winning holes into which the rolling balls fall at indefinite probabilities. If any one of the balls falls into any one of the winning holes, then a predetermined prize ball is dispensed to the player. The player flips the prize ball again into the playfield, so that he or she can play the game again. The player can also preserve a large number of such prize balls and exchange them for some prizes prepared in the game house. The player can acquire prizes of his or her selection if winning the game in the "pachinko" game machine.
FIGS. 17-19 illustrate a pinball game machine which is one example of conventional flipped ball game machines. FIG. 17 is an overall front view of the conventional pinball game machine. FIG. 18 is an overall rear view showing an internal structure of part of the conventional pinball game machine. FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing a ball flipping unit of the conventional pinball game machine. The conventional pinball game machine is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 1-254183.
Referring to FIG. 17, a door supporting frame 304 is mounted on a front frame 303 serving as a member constituting a pinball game machine 301. A glass door frame 395 incorporating a glass plate is attached rotatably on door supporting frame 304. This glass door frame 395 opens/closes a playfield 300 formed on the front face of a playboard 306. This playfield is a field in which flipped pinballs fall down leaving certain trajectories. A play value which is predetermined at a certain probability in accordance with the trajectories of the balls in the playfield is provided to a player.
A front plate 321 is provided beneath glass door frame 395. A flipped-ball supplying tray 315 is provided on the front face of front plate 321. This supply tray 315 has such form that pinballs can temporarily be stored therein. In a game play, the player first deposits coins into a pinball lending machine installed in a predetermined place in a game house and borrows pinballs by conducting a predetermined operation for the machine. Then, the player deposits the lent pinballs into supply tray 315. The player then holds and turns by his/her right hand a flipping operation handle 320 provided in a lower part of pinball game machine 301. With the turning operation of handle 320, the pinballs stored in supply tray 315 are flipped into playfield 300 one by one by action of a ball shooting unit 305 (see FIG. 18).
A variable display unit 307 is mounted in a central position of playfield 300, and a variable winning unit 329 is disposed beneath variable display unit 307. Variable display unit 307 can variably display plural types of identification information formed of numerals, designs, symbols and so on. Variable winning unit 329 is set such that when pinballs fall into variable winning unit 329, a predetermined play value is supplied to the player. Variable winning unit 329 can alternate between a first state which is advantageous for the player and a second state which is disadvantageous for the player. If any of the pinballs flipped into playfield 300 by operation of shooting operation handle 320 falls into any of starting winning holes 331a, 331b and 331c being one example of a starting passage hole, then variable display unit 307 starts variation of the display. After a definite time period has elapsed, the varying display of variable display unit 307 is stopped. A winning hole is a ball receiving port which allows the ball flipped into the playfield to fall and enter into. The winning hole is set such that when the balls are received, a predetermined play value is supplied to the player and that the received balls may be guided to a rear face of playboard 306. A passage hole is a hole which allows the balls flipped into the playfield to fall and enter into. The passage hole is set such that a predetermined play value can be supplied to the player with entrance of the balls into the passage hole. The balls that have entered into the passage hole are divided into two types: the one is guided to the rear face of playboard 306, and the other passes through the hole and then discharged again into playfield 300. In other words, the "passage" is a broad concept including the concept of "winning". The starting winning hole is one type of winning holes, which is set to start the operation of variable display unit 307 (or variable winning unit 329 in some cases) as well as supply a predetermined play value to the player when the pinball flipped into the playfield falls into the starting winning hole.
If the result of the display provided when variable display unit 307 stops provides a predetermined specific combination of identification information (e.g., 777), an opening/closing plate 330 of variable winning unit 329 is opened, so that a state where a play value can be supplied to the player, i.e., a great winning state is generated. Normal winning holes 332 and 333 are further provided in playfield 300. When pinballs fall into normal winning hole 332, 333 or variable winning unit 329, a predetermined number of prize balls are dispensed through a prize ball dispensing outlet 316 into supply tray 315, so that a play value is supplied to the player. The prize ball is a pinball serving as the play value which is supplied to the player due such as to the winning of a flipped ball. If supply tray 315 is filled with prize balls and can no longer store any balls therein, surplus prize balls are dispensed through a surplus prize ball dispensing outlet 323 into a surplus prize ball receiving tray 322. A lost-ball port 334 serves to recover lost balls, which are the pinballs flipped into playfield 300 and having fallen down without falling into any winning holes or winning units. A mount member 319 serves to mount ball shooting unit 305 onto the front frame.
Referring to FIG. 18, ball shooting unit 305 operating responsive to the operation of shooting operation handle 320 (see FIG. 17) is provided at the lower part of pinball game machine 301. This ball shooting unit 305 is comprised of a ball shooting motor 351 being one example of an electric drive source, a drive vane 352 rotated by ball shooting motor 351, a lever 353 abutting against drive vane 352, a ball flipping hammer 354 unified with lever 353 and swung intermittently with rotation of drive vane 352, and a ganged ascending/descending unit 355 ascending/descending in gang with the intermittent swinging of ball flipping hammer 354. With ganged ascending/descending unit 355 ascending/descending, a ball supplying mechanism not shown is operated, so that the pinballs in supply tray 315 are supplied one by one to a ball shooting position. With drive vanes 352 being rotated by a driving force of motor 351, lever 353 is pressed down, so that hammer 354 unified with lever 353 turns in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. 18. Hammer 354 is biased in a clockwise direction in FIG. 18 by a spring. As soon as the abutment between drive vane 352 and lever 353 is released, lever 353 and hammer 354 turn in the clockwise direction in FIG. 18. Then, the pinballs provided at the above-described ball shooting position are flipped by a tip end of hammer 354 and shot into playfield 300 after having passed between an inner rail 353a and an outer rail 353b (see FIG. 17).
The pinball that have been shot by shooting unit 305 and then fallen into winning hole 332 are guided onto a winning ball collecting gutter 347 and then introduced into a winning ball processor 348. Winning ball processor 348 causes a prize ball dispenser 346 to operate for each winning ball, to dispense a predetermined number (e.g. 15) of prize balls. The winning balls that have passed through winning ball processor 348 are discharged outside the machine through a winning ball discharging passage 349. The prize balls in a prize ball storing tank 343 are supplied to prize ball dispenser 346. More specifically, the prize balls in prize ball storing tank 343 are arrayed in two rows by a ball arrangement gutter 344, and then supplied into prize ball dispenser 346 through a curving gutter 345.
Referring to FIG. 18, a winning ball collecting cover 338 serves to guide the pinballs that have fallen into winning hole 332 onto winning ball collecting gutter 347, and also guide the pinballs that have fallen into starting winning hole 331a onto winning ball collecting gutter 347 after these winning balls passed through a starting winning ball detecting switch 341a. The pinballs that have fallen into starting winning holes 331b and 331c are also detected by starting winning ball detecting switches 341b and 341c and then guided onto winning ball collecting gutter 347. In FIG. 18, a main body 340 of the variable display unit, a lost-ball port 334 and a solenoid 342 being one example of the electric drive source for opening/closing opening/closing plate 330 (see FIG. 17) of variable winning unit 329 are provided. A relay base plate 339 is also provided. A control base plate box 350 for game control serves to accommodate a game control base plate which controls the opening/closing of variable winning unit 329 and the display of variable display unit 307.
The ball shooting unit of the pinball game machine shown in FIG. 19 is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 59-192381.
A shaft 313 penetrates a mount member 319. Shaft 313 and shooting operation handle 320 are engaged with each other at the front surface of mount member 319, while a fan-shaped gear 314A is attached to shaft 313 at the rear face of mount member 319.
A flipping force adjusting lever 312 is mounted on shooting operation handle 320. Flipping force adjusting lever 312 has a protrusion 312a on which the player's finger for turning lever 312 is hung. When the player holds this operation handle 320 by hand and hangs his or her finger on protrusion 312a of adjusting lever 312 to turn flipping force adjusting lever 312, shaft 313 is rotated, so that fan-shaped gear 314A is also rotated in the same direction. The motion of fan-shaped gear 314A is conveyed to a gear 314B and further to a gear 314C. This causes expansion of a wire 315 with its one end fixed onto gear 314C, so that a force is applied to hammer 354 which is attached to the other end of wire 315 by means of a spring 316. This causes adjustment of the pinball flipping force of hammer 354.
With fan-shaped gear 314A rotating as described above, an actuator 322 abutting against one end of gear 314A is driven, so that a microswitch 321 is turned on. With switch 321 turned on, motor 351 is activated, so that hammer 354 carries out a ball flipping operation.
As has been mentioned above, the conventional flipped ball game machine is structured such that balls are flipped into playfield 300 by the player's manipulation of shooting operation handle 320, and a play value is supplied to the player dependently on the trajectories of the falling flipped balls. Further, the conventional flipped ball game machine is structured such that the flipping force of the balls flipped into playfield 300 can be adjusted by the player's manipulation of shooting operation handle 320.
In the conventional flipped ball game machine represented by such a pinball game machine, the player can enjoy the falling state of the balls flipped into playfield 300; however, since the scores or evaluation of the game are dependent upon the player's skill of flipping balls, the player cannot simply enjoy chances as he or she does in slot machines, roulettes and the like.